An artisanal touch

1. Amy’s Custom Chocolates

A pet peeve inspired Amy Hendricks to start her own food business: the unwanted squares left over in a store-bought box of chocolates. “I would buy a box, and half of them I didn’t care for,” Hendricks says. “So I wanted to supply the public with something they wanted.” A chocolate maker since her teens, Hendricks uses molds or hand dipping to create made-to-order sets of coconut clusters, raspberry cremes, tortoises (“I didn’t know if I could take the name turtle, so I thought I’d come up with my own name”) and a host of other flavors, all intended to create a dud-free box. She also makes quick breads, like banana and zucchini, that come in regular and gluten-free varieties.

Price: Chocolates are $6 to $18; breads are $2.50 to $15.

How to order: Call 419-841-5927, visit www.AmysCustomChocolates.com, or email [email protected] 

Where to find it: Home delivery or pick up the items on Saturday at the Toledo Farmer’s Market.

2. Sugar Cube

Vivian Miller (pictured above with her daughter Leslie Jackson), is the one-woman show behind Sugar Cube. She’s in the right business, according to her family. “They gotta have some sweets,” Miller says, laughing. It’s a wonder she has any time to indulge them after filling customer orders — some days she bakes for 10 hours straight, making everything from sweet potato pie to German chocolate cake from scratch, depending on what seasonal produce meets her standards. Miller, a self-proclaimed perfectionist, started her business after she retired from DuPont in 2007, fulfilling a calling she says she’s had since she was a little girl watching her mother make cobblers and pies. “She very seldom measured,” Miller says, “and I kind of got that knack, [too].” 

Price: $1.50 to $30. 

How to order: Call 419-843-2349 or 419-265-2134, from 9am-5pm Monday thru Saturday.

Where to find: Custom order or take your pick Saturday mornings at the Toledo Farmer’s Market.

3. Baby Cakes 2 Go

When Abbie Mahr says we, she really means “me” — the mother of three runs a successful cupcake business that delivers orders of 1,000 cupcakes or more,  all on her own. She’s a sweets obsessive (“I even dream about flavors”) whose creations have garnered national attention: her “mancakes,” a dozen macho flavors (like chocolate-covered bacon) packaged in a manly-man box, were featured in wedding magazine The Knot this past summer. “We try to stay on top in that sense and be creative,” Mahr says. Her personal claim to fame? Whipped frosting she says is “to die for.” 

Price: $25-$30 per dozen, $6 cupcake jars.

How to order: Visit www.BabyCakes2Go.com or call 419-320-3575.

Where to find: Home delivery or pick-up at O-Deer Diner.

4. Crackers Plus

“People are shocked when I tell them I make crackers,” says Rachel Nasatir. “They’re like, ‘What? Crackers?'” While those crunchy creations are usually an afterthought for most — who among us isn’t guilty of buying a box of Ritz, thinking only of a vehicle for that hunk of cheese — in Nasatir’s hands, crackers become addictive, luxury food items. The baking maven labors for hours over her handmade, artisanal, all-organic products, producing six flavors (among them extra virgin olive oil and sea salt, rosemary, and fennel) for shelves at local markets or the tables at Mancy’s Bluewater Grille.

Price: $25 per pound, or $5 for a 3 ounce bag.

How to order: Email [email protected] or call 419-754-4659.

Where to find it: Through home delivery, or at Sautter’s Market, Kazmeier’s inPerrysburg, Ralph’s Joy of Living in Fremont and  Tiffin, Middle Grounds Market at the

Oliver House, Walt Churchill’s Market at Briarfield Blvd., The Baker’s Kitchen and Thrush’s Bakery in Maumee,  and The Beer and Wine Cave.

5. Egg and Honey

Amelia Contreras has a passion for rustic, natural cooking — and the patience she puts in her baking pays off. The sourdough breads she creates under her Egg and Honey label are made the old-fashioned way, keeping flour and water in a jar and letting the yeast gather naturally over time, as opposed to buying packaged yeast off the shelf. “I sort of describe it as the tortoise and the hare,” Contreras says. “Sourdough takes a lot longer, but you get more deep flavor and a more developed crust.” Her oven stamina extends to sourdough soft pretzels and specialty breads (like a unusually tasty fruitcake, made with marmalade and local honey). 

Price: $2 to $20. 

How to order: Visit  www.EggAndHoney.com, call  419-340-8748, or email [email protected].

Where to find: Home 

1. Amy’s Custom Chocolates

A pet peeve inspired Amy Hendricks to start her own food business: the unwanted squares left over in a store-bought box of chocolates. “I would buy a box, and half of them I didn’t care for,” Hendricks says. “So I wanted to supply the public with something they wanted.” A chocolate maker since her teens, Hendricks uses molds or hand dipping to create made-to-order sets of coconut clusters, raspberry cremes, tortoises (“I didn’t know if I could take the name turtle, so I thought I’d come up with my own name”) and a host of other flavors, all intended to create a dud-free box. She also makes quick breads, like banana and zucchini, that come in regular and gluten-free varieties.

Price: Chocolates are $6 to $18; breads are $2.50 to $15.

How to order: Call 419-841-5927, visit www.AmysCustomChocolates.com, or email [email protected] 

Where to find it: Home delivery or pick up the items on Saturday at the Toledo Farmer’s Market.

2. Sugar Cube

Vivian Miller (pictured above with her daughter Leslie Jackson), is the one-woman show behind Sugar Cube. She’s in the right business, according to her family. “They gotta have some sweets,” Miller says, laughing. It’s a wonder she has any time to indulge them after filling customer orders — some days she bakes for 10 hours straight, making everything from sweet potato pie to German chocolate cake from scratch, depending on what seasonal produce meets her standards. Miller, a self-proclaimed perfectionist, started her business after she retired from DuPont in 2007, fulfilling a calling she says she’s had since she was a little girl watching her mother make cobblers and pies. “She very seldom measured,” Miller says, “and I kind of got that knack, [too].” 

Price: $1.50 to $30. 

How to order: Call 419-843-2349 or 419-265-2134, from 9am-5pm Monday thru Saturday.

Where to find: Custom order or take your pick Saturday mornings at the Toledo Farmer’s Market.

3. Baby Cakes 2 Go

When Abbie Mahr says we, she really means “me” — the mother of three runs a successful cupcake business that delivers orders of 1,000 cupcakes or more,  all on her own. She’s a sweets obsessive (“I even dream about flavors”) whose creations have garnered national attention: her “mancakes,” a dozen macho flavors (like chocolate-covered bacon) packaged in a manly-man box, were featured in wedding magazine The Knot this past summer. “We try to stay on top in that sense and be creative,” Mahr says. Her personal claim to fame? Whipped frosting she says is “to die for.” 

Price: $25-$30 per dozen, $6 cupcake jars.

How to order: Visit www.BabyCakes2Go.com or call 419-320-3575.

Where to find: Home delivery or pick-up at O-Deer Diner.

4. Crackers Plus

“People are shocked when I tell them I make crackers,” says Rachel Nasatir. “They’re like, ‘What? Crackers?'” While those crunchy creations are usually an afterthought for most — who among us isn’t guilty of buying a box of Ritz, thinking only of a vehicle for that hunk of cheese — in Nasatir’s hands, crackers become addictive, luxury food items. The baking maven labors for hours over her handmade, artisanal, all-organic products, producing six flavors (among them extra virgin olive oil and sea salt, rosemary, and fennel) for shelves at local markets or the tables at Mancy’s Bluewater Grille.

Price: $25 per pound, or $5 for a 3 ounce bag.

How to order: Email [email protected] or call 419-754-4659.

Where to find it: Through home delivery, or at Sautter’s Market, Kazmeier’s inPerrysburg, Ralph’s Joy of Living in Fremont and  Tiffin, Middle Grounds Market at the

Oliver House, Walt Churchill’s Market at Briarfield Blvd., The Baker’s Kitchen and Thrush’s Bakery in Maumee,  and The Beer and Wine Cave.

5. Egg and Honey

Amelia Contreras has a passion for rustic, natural cooking — and the patience she puts in her baking pays off. The sourdough breads she creates under her Egg and Honey label are made the old-fashioned way, keeping flour and water in a jar and letting the yeast gather naturally over time, as opposed to buying packaged yeast off the shelf. “I sort of describe it as the tortoise and the hare,” Contreras says. “Sourdough takes a lot longer, but you get more deep flavor and a more developed crust.” Her oven stamina extends to sourdough soft pretzels and specialty breads (like a unusually tasty fruitcake, made with marmalade and local honey). 

Price: $2 to $20. 

How to order: Visit  www.EggAndHoney.com, call  419-340-8748, or email [email protected].

Where to find: Home